Hoda Kotb Leaves ‘Today’ Early To Bring Daughters To School 7 Months After Daughter’s Hospitalization

To kids and parents, the first day back to school is always an important day! Hoda Kotb, 59, made sure she was there to bring her daughters Haley Joy, 6, and Hope Catherine, 4, to their first day of school on Wednesday, Sep. 6. The Today host left the show a little early to make sure she could be there on their first day back. The proud mom was clearly excited for both of her girls to begin the new year.

While Hoda was there for the start of the show at 7 a.m. ET, about 25 minutes later, her co-host Savannah Guthrie pointed out that it was about time for her to get going. “Hoda, you’re on the run. It’s the first day of school,” she said, per People. 

Hoda then seemed to check to make sure she was okay to go. “Okay, can I leave right now?” she said, and said goodbye to her fellow co-hosts.  As Hoda left, Savannah shared well-wishes with her co-anchor and her daughters. “Yes give them a hug for us,” she called out. “Go get ‘em, girls!”

The return to school comes seven months after her younger daughter Hope was hospitalized and spent about two weeks in the hospital, including a few days in the ICU, in February and March. During her daughter’s hospitalization, Hoda took some time off from the show to be with her family and help her little girl.

When she returned, she explained that she was happy that her daughter was recovering. “I’m grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. We are watching her closely. I’m just so happy,” she said in her return episode on March 6. ” I’m grateful for the doctors at Weil Cornell, who were amazing, and the nurses. And I’m grateful to my family and friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”

Besides leaving the show early, Hoda also commemorated the first day back to school by posting a quote from Dr. Seuss on her Instagram and wishing everyone a happy return. “You’re off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so go get on your way,” the post read.